The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black
by etherealloveliness
Summary: A Black Sisters fic. "Bellatrix said with a smirk on her face, 'Toujours Pur. It means 'always pure' in French. And that's what the Blacks are.'" Important snippets from the sisters' lives that tell what shaped Andromeda to be who she is today.


**A/N: Just a little Black Sisters fic I decided to write. I hope you like!**

**To my Twilight fandom people: If any of you are reading this, I **_**am**_** working on FS and Will-o'-Wisp. For FS, should be done by next week by the latest. To Will-o'-Wisp readers, it'll be Saturday at the latest, **_**maybe**_** Sunday. So keep your eyes peeled!**

* * *

Perhaps things really were for the best. At least, that's what she kept telling herself. There was this uncertainty in her and she just couldn't let it go. Oh, did she ever _want_ to. But most of all she didn't think she could forget that look in her sisters' eyes when she told them of her decision. The hardening of Bella's. The overwhelming sadness in Narcissa's.

They reminded her of so many times.

* * *

Druella sat her youngest daughter on her lap. "Do you know why you have such a pretty name?" her mother whispered to Andromeda. The girl shook her head. Sometimes she wondered, and sometimes she heard her two sisters talking about it, but she didn't understand a bit of it.

"No, I don't," she told her mother softly.

"The Black family," Druella murmured to Andromeda, "names their offspring after things in the nighttime sky, like constellations or galaxies. The Andromeda galaxy is a large and beautiful one. When you go to Hogwarts, you'll study Astrology, and you'll be able to see your galaxy. It's _yours_, Andromeda. The Blacks have everything, you know."

At that precise moment Narcissa walked into the room. "What are you talking about?" she asked. Her gray eyes lit up with excitement.

Druella opened her mouth to speak, but Andromeda beat her. "Mother and I were talking about how everybody in this family is named after stars and stuff," she chirped happily, "and I have a galaxy that's _all_ mine because I was named after it."

"Ooh! Mother, Mother, what am I named after?" Narcissa urged. She sat down in an emerald green armchair and fingered a snake necklace that she had received from their aunt for Christmas. She took pride in it, how she was going off to Hogwarts before Andromeda was. "Do I have a constellation? Or what about a star? Perhaps a galaxy?" Andromeda didn't think she had ever seen her sister so excited.

Her mother faltered. "Er...well...darling, you are...not really named after something in Astrology. You're named after a flower."

Narcissa's smile faltered. "Oh," she responded weakly. She got to her feet and walked out of the room. Andromeda thought she heard sobs echoing down the hallway.

* * *

Bellatrix pulled Andromeda to the old and worn tapestry hanging on the wall. "There's Mother's name, and there's Father's name," she said, pointing to said peoples' names in turn. "There's Cissy's, and yours. And there's _mine_."

"What does that say?" Andromeda questioned her sister, pointing to a script elegantly written and bolded to emphasize. It wasn't in a language she knew. But Bella was smart. She would know.

As if reading her thoughts, Bellatrix said with a smirk on her face, "_Toujours Pur_. It means 'always pure' in French. And that's what the Blacks are. We aren't filthy Mudbloods." She grinned at the confused look on Andromeda's face. "There are social classes in the Wizarding World. Those that have parents who are both wizards are called Purebloods. Our whole family is pureblooded. Those who don't come from a background of magic are called Mudbloods. They aren't worthy, really, to have magic. But they do, and we, and everybody else, look down upon them. At least they should. Now, wizards and witches who have one Muggle or Mudblood parent and one magic parent are called Halfbloods. They aren't so bad."

"What if I become friends with one? A Mudblood?" Andromeda said worriedly as she tried the word out. It sounded foreign. And it sounded wrong.

Bellatrix's eyes became steely. "You won't. You're my little sister. Blacks don't socialize with those kinds of people. I'll look out for you; don't worry, I won't let them contaminate you."

"But...but Bella, how will I know who is a Mudblood and who's not?"

"You'll just know. They don't know anything about us when they come to Hogwarts," Bellatrix scoffed.

Andromeda felt a little better at her words that, oddly enough, comforted her. "So I'll be _toujours pur_?"

"Yeah." Bellatrix smiled, a rare occurence. Seeing Bella smile was so unusual. She was usually proud and arrogant and never let her feelings get the best of her. "You'll always be _toujours pur_."

* * *

"Black, Andromeda," McGonagall, a stern-looking lady, called.

Andromeda's nerves were getting the best of her. What if she didn't get sorted into Slytherin? It was her duty to uphold the family honor. If she got sorted into Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, or Gryffindor, she'd surely be looked down upon by her sisters and her parents. She wanted more than anything to please. Her heart pounding in her chest, she walked up to the stool and hoisted herself up, her feet dangling. She pulled a large, black hat over her head and was startled when she heard a voice inside her head.

_"Ah, a Black. Surely a Slytherin, eh?"_

"Oh, yes! Please!" This was exactly what she wanted. This was what was expected of her. She would rise to those standards that were set for her before her birth.

_"A bit eager if you ask me. You'd do well in Ravenclaw; the Blacks were always talented. You're very brave. Perhaps...Gryffindor?"_ Andromeda froze. _"No, no, too much cunning in there. The Blacks have taught you well. _Toujours pur_, correct? I picked that one up from your sister, Bellatrix."_

"Yes. Always pure." Her voice sounded a bit stronger, more confident. "Slytherin," she demanded firmly. "I am a Slytherin."

_"Are you sure, child? Well, then..._SLYTHERIN!" the Hat bellowed to the Great Hall.

* * *

Andromeda was walking down one of the many halls in Hogwarts with her sisters (a rare occurrence, as they were usually with friends their age) when a boy collided with her, sending their books tumbling to the ground. She'd seen him around; he was in her year. He was also a Muggleborn, because as far as she was concerned, the surname Tonks wasn't ancient and noble like the Blacks' was. "Watch where you're going, Mudblood!" she spat as she collected her school supplies. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Bellatrix give her trademark smirk and an approving nod of her head.

"Sorry," the boy mumbled, shying away from her. There was a slight pang of guilt. that she quickly ignored. Andromeda was a Black; she didn't pay attention to what or what didn't make filthy blood like him feel bad. She'd been taught that her whole life.

As the sisters flounced away, Andromeda mumbled, "He should have watched where he was going." As though to cover up her transgression to herself she added, "Now look! He got my robes dirty!"

Bellatrix let out a peal of laughter as Narcissa looked on with her lips twitching upward. "Don't worry, 'Dromeda, I'll fix them for you. Give them to me after our classes in the common room." She brushed a stray piece of black hair out of her face. "If you want me to, I'll hex him for you. I'd be more than delighted to."

"No, that won't be necessary. Don't waste your energy on someone like him."

* * *

"Filth! Disgusting! You are not my daughter!" Mrs. Black shrieked at her daughter as Cygnus stared icily at his youngest. Andromeda wanted to speak up on behalf of Ted, but thankfully, she held her tongue. Druella continued to wail, "Oh, where did I go wrong? You were the perfect daughter and then you started going out with a _Mudblood_! You don't even have the decency to apologize and find a suitable husband. In fact, you refuse to even speak the word! _MUDBLOOD!_" The angry mother's voice reverbrated around the house.

Finally, Cygnus spoke up. "Get out."

"Excuse me, Father?"

The father she had once looked up to so much now scowled at her in disgust, like she was some wounded animal that was grotesque to look at and beyond his help. "You heard me right. Get out. Marry him. Just get out of my sight and don't come back."

And she did exactly that.

* * *

When she was a little girl, she believed that everything happened for a reason and that Fate had something special planned for everyone. Sometimes they veered off course but that was foretold. So maybe she was right in the first place. Her parents didn't make her decisions. She did. Maybe things _were_ meant to be.

* * *

**A/N: This is my first Black Sisters fic, so tell me what you think. Did I overdo it? Did you love it? Hate it? Think it's OOC? Please tell me so I can improve my writing!**

**Thanks. Now click the little button!**


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